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SUMMARY:ENAC Seminar Series by Prof. K. Schirmer
DTSTART:20190516T134500
DTEND:20190516T144500
DTSTAMP:20260924T170143Z
UID:ccd8be6794a09195700e650fd5eeaeab770cc0c62d83e76f656d5957
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. K. Schirmer\n13:45 – 14:45 – Prof. Kristin Schirmer\
 nHead of Dept. of Environmental Toxicology at Eawag\, Switzerland\n\nCells
  of fish in a culture dish – sensors of human-environment interactions  
  \n\nProf. Schirmer’s research focusses on linking cell biology and envi
 ronmental toxicology\, with the paradigm that cells are the initial target
  of chemical or other stressor interactions with any form of life at its b
 ase. Specifically\, her research aspires to decipher the mechanisms by whi
 ch stressors interfere on the cellular level with aquatic organisms and to
  identify responses relevant to organism and population health. The mechan
 istic knowledge gained provides the foundation for developing models and t
 echnologies that enable to scale toxicological impact from cells to multic
 ellular organisms and from lab settings to environmental monitoring in the
  field. The overarching aim is to warrant or improve aquatic ecosystem hea
 lth as a vital resource for life.\n\nTo illustrate her research\, she will
  take you onto a journey that starts with the isolation of cells from orga
 ns of fish to derive immortal cell lines. Such cells allow to study how ma
 n-made chemicals enter and impact fish and how\, in turn\, these cells are
  equipped to combat such challenge. In combination with mathematical model
 s of differing complexity\, we were able to demonstrate that such cells ca
 n predict diverse read-outs of relevance to environmental risk assessment 
 such as chemical bioaccumulation and chemical-induced impact on fish growt
 h. One assay procedure\, designed to predict fish acute toxicity of chemic
 als or water samples\, has just been accepted as a standard by the Interna
 tional Standardization Organization. By engineering the cell-based systems
 \, we can achieve additional unique features\, such as non-invasive cell v
 iability sensing on resistance-measuring electrodes and co-culture of diff
 erent cells types to work toward a “fish-on-chip”. It is our vision to
  not only reduce or even replace the need for fish for chemical risk asses
 sment but as well contribute to sustainable product development and reliab
 le water quality monitoring in urban and rural settings.
LOCATION:BC 420 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BC%20420
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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